Every New Yorker will have a chance to vote on an Adirondack issue in this election. On the back of each ballot is Proposition 1. If voters approve the measure, it would fix a constitutional violation tied to an Olympic sports complex in Lake Placid and protect additional land in the Adirondacks.
To understand how Proposition 1 ended up on the New York ballot in this election, you have to go back about five years.
Lake Placid was getting ready to host the World University Games. That’s when Dave Gibson and other environmentalists in the Adirondacks noticed something alarming.
"Many people who passed by the Mt. Van Hoevenberg access road just outside the village of Lake Placid saw a pile of logs," said Gibson, the executive director of Adirondack Wild.
Mt. Van Hoevenberg was undergoing a major renovation to host cross-country skiers and biathletes at the 2023 Games.
The pile of logs raised alarm bells for environmentalists like Gibson because Article 14 of the New York State Constitution, known as the Forever Wild clause, strictly prohibits tree cutting on the Forest Preserve.
While a portion of the Olympic site is on town-owned land, most of it is on Forest Preserve land.
"So those of us who were curious [about] where these logs are coming from found out that they were coming from lands that are on the forest preserve," Gibson explained.
The Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates Mt. Van Hoevenberg, violated the state’s constitution when it cut down those trees. Gibson and other top environmentalists confronted ORDA about the violation.
Joe Martens, chair of ORDA’s board, said those early conversations sparked the years-long effort to address the issue.
"Everyone realized that you can’t cut trees on the forest preserve," said Martens, "and that we needed to clean this up and make sure that our facilities were compliant with the constitution.”
If it's approved by voters, Prop 1 would make an exception for the tree cutting and development that’s already happened at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. It would also give ORDA the flexibility to further develop the property with some restrictions.
Voters approved similar amendments decades earlier, which allow the state to manage and develop Whiteface and Gore Mountains in the Adirondacks and Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills.
As a way to make amends for the tree cutting and development at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, Prop 1 also includes a land deal. If it’s approved, the state would be required to protect an additional 2,500 acres in the Adirondacks.
Earlier this week, Governor Kathy Hochul preemptively signed a law approving the amendment and additional land deal.
Senator Pete Harckham and former Assemblymember Billy Jones sponsored Proposition 1. Harckham is from the Hudson Valley and said it took him a while to grasp why they needed an amendment for work that had already been done.
"The first few times I looked at this, I didn’t understand it," said Harckham.
He worked closely over the years with Jones and State Senator Dan Stec, who represents a large portion of the Adirondacks.
Before a constitutional amendment ends up on the ballot, the state legislature first needs to approve the measure in two consecutive sessions. State lawmakers approved the proposal for the second time earlier this year.
Harckham said a few key facts helped him convince other lawmakers in Albany to support Prop 1.
"These facilities already exist, it’s not like we’re carving up new sections of the Adirondacks," said Harckham. "And there’s an economic multiplier- it allows world-class events to be held in the Adirondacks, and with that comes tourism dollars.”
Along with hosting the World University Games a few years ago, Mt. Van Hoevenberg has also hosted World Cup races for bobsled and mountain biking. Plus, this winter, the Olympic site is set to host a World Cup event for Luge and the World Cup Finals for cross-country skiing.
Key supporters of Proposition 1 say approving the ballot measure is about more than just tourism dollars. Claudia Braymer, who leads Protect the Adirondacks, believes it’s about respecting the Constitution and protecting the Forest Preserve.
"Without an amendment, we have these things that ORDA did on the Forest Preserve in violation of the Constitution, and we do not want to see the Forever Wild Clause simply be ignored by a state agency," said Braymer.
All of the top green groups in the park support Prop 1, including Protect the Adirondacks, the Adirondack Council, Adirondack Land Trust, and the Adirondack Mountain Club.
After years of work, Dave Gibson from Adirondack Wild says it was gratifying to finally see Prop 1 on the ballot. He’s especially happy about the additional land deal.
"The immediate benefit of receiving 2,500 acres of wild forest lands that are going to be forever wild, forever, so we’re encouraging New York voters to vote yes," said Gibson.
It’s not clear where those 2,500 acres of new forest preserve land will be in the park. That’s something the DEC will decide. The DEC says it’s also still determining where the funding for that land deal will come from.